¡Por Vida! is a restaurant recognition program that helps adults and children make healthier food choices by identifying those menu items that meet nutritional guidelines developed by the Healthy Restaurants Coalition.

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Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Joins Por Vida! Program

The ¡Por Vida! program at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio was launched last week. The announcement was made at a press conference at the hospital where pediatric patients helped make and serve sample ¡Por Vida! approved food. The hospital will serve ¡Por Vida! meals in the cafeteria for visitors and staff and the entire pediatric patient menu is also ¡Por Vida! approved. The patient menu eliminates all fried foods, includes whole grains, and many fruit and vegetable offerings.

Dr. Thomas Schlenker, Director of Metro Health, addressing the importance of healthy meal options for our community and the ¡Por Vida! program.

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio is the first hospital to include a ¡Por Vida! approved patient menu for children. “We’re so pleased to have Children’s Hospital of San Antonio join our program,” says Metro Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention Manager, Kathleen Shields. “Childhood obesity prevention is a crucial issue in our community and we are proud to make strides with child-friendly ¡Por Vida! meals.”

A ¡Por Vida! registered dietitian analyzed several ¡Por Vida! approved meals to be served at the cafeteria and to the patients. All these meal options follow the strict ¡Por Vida! nutritional criteria where a meal cannot exceed 700 calories, 23 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 750 mg of sodium and no fried foods. Some of the cafeteria’s ¡Por Vida! menu items include: grilled ancho-lime chicken with calabacita and Spanish rice, crunchy baked cod with southern green beans and toasted barley, and smokey apple barbeque chicken with roasted carrots and cabbage.

Estrella Flores, 6, works on her ¡Por Vida! appetizer during the launch of the program at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.

For more information on the Por Vida program, please visit our website.